Waiting for the PB Miracle...

Just to say... not turning my back on PB, just feeling a tad frustrated.

OK. So I dont do the weights thing... I swim instead. I live in the dismal raining north west of England, so havent seen sunshine for months. I work inside at a sedentary computing job... it pays the bills.

1: Weight loss. A minimum target would be a BMI within the "normal" or even the "bigbone-adjusted BMI" normal range. ie. 25 or 26.5 respectively. I am currently 31.5. So according to that I need to lose around 3-4 stone (42-56lbs).

2: I'm fitter than a year ago, but most of that improvement was workouts pre-PB. PB I see is having little effect on this, other than the negative one of reducing my stamina for long swims.

3: Improving my diabetic numbers to the point they reduce my medication would be a great benefit, and I reckon I'm on course with that.

So 2 & 3 are doing OK. 1 is not moving. But then my weight has been incredibly stable for years - 215 +/- 4lbs for the last 15 years, pretty much regardless of diet.

Please remember with any advice, as a diabetic I need to take regular meals - I cant risk a hypo by doing IF.

Not quite true - it's a sudden drop in blood sugars that would cause the hypo, and that's caused by fluctuating insulin levels. Ifyou keep the insulin low by eating very few carbs in a meal, there won't be a sudden drop, and you actually can go longer between meals.

My husband has T2D, and while he usually eats 3 meals, he no longer snacks, and sometimes he just isn't hungry when mealtime comes up - this is generally after really big breakfasts (eggs and bacon, but no toast, for example). He also has stopped taking his meds - metformin and glyburide. Reading the side effects, glyburide can cause the hypo episodes randomly - why would you take something for diabetes that will force you to eat carbs to recover from the side effects???

Anyways, long story short is be careful but don't be afraid to experiment.

And since you live in a miserable weather place... are you taking a vitamin D supplement? Might not help with the weight, but would certainly make you feel less frustrated and more happy.

You are a diabetic ( didnt say which type ) thus.... your hormones are compromised.

Get a hormone workup and focus on normalizing them. make whatever dietary changes are required supplementing as needed.

Problem solved.

Second biased answer: Hormones stay out of what when something is tilting the scale. if eating to your hormones doesnt show a definite change in 6-12 weeks look at what heavy metals exist in your body. blood tests and urine tests are available.

i think you need to change your first goal to fat loss instead of weight loss. i know it's a minor change, but it matters. in fact, get rid of your scale.

has anything else changed? are your clothes looser? more energy? the primal blueprint is about improving your health; losing weight is just a positive byproduct for most people.

you should try logging your food for a week or two, and log absolutely everything that goes in your mouth. get a sense of how many calories you're really eating, how many carbohydrates, how much fat, etc. i'm guess there is a shift that you can make with your diet that might help move things along.
swimming is great, but is that all your exercise? if so, maybe it's time to start lifting heavy things and getting in some sprint workouts (you can do sprints in the pool).

I can say I would not lose fat well on your diet. The carbs in the potato and raisins would be enough for my body to work with and keep me fat. Raisins are one of the very highest glycemic foods there are. Just stick to meat and non starchy veggies (no fruit either) until you start to lose, then you'll have a baseline and know it works and any changes that screw that up, you'll know why. It just doesn't take much carbs to make a big difference, especially with someone who has a deranged sugar metabolism as you (and most of this country) do.

Also, not eating after 5 or 6 pm is good. I've been eating pretty much "primal" for over a year now (I still ate some grains in the beginning, but very little). I lost weight well in the beginning, then it slowly stopped and I'd been stuck for 3 months. I was allowing myself a few potatoes maybe an apple here and there. That was all it took. Cutting back my carbs and I am losing again (I only have about 15 lbs to lose, so they are the toughest pounds too).

Here is what I eat (I am female btw- but I do some physical labor I'm a part time farrier and also have a bit of a farm, hauling feed and hay and whatnot around).

First thing in the morning (I am in transtion right now of changing coffee to spearmint tea because coffee makes me hungry as much as a love it): 2 cups of coffee, each cup has 1.5 tsp of palm sugar and about 1/2 cup of raw goat's milk (I know, didn't realize how much milk it was until recently when I actually measured it!).

Breakfast (usually 10-11am) A few different options
A-3 egg omelet with American cheese
B-3 eggs over easy with some sausage
C- blueberry smoothie (walnuts, coconut water, raw milk, frozen blueberries, ice and coconut oil) this one is higher carb, but not bad, probably 20 carbs. I like to only eat this on days I'm going to go run but it doesn't seem to mess with my weight loss even when I don't.

Lunch 1-2pm: Often just a salad with veggies and vinaigrette dressing. I will often throw in some parmesan cheese or sunflower seeds or something. Or some leftovers from last night's supper. This is basically a meal to tide me over to supper.

Supper: 4:30-5:30pm Usually some type of meat and veggie. Examples: Hamburger patty (often just half of one as my appetite isn't too strong in the evening most days) which I have put on top: mayo, bubbie's pickles (fermented), chopped onion and mustard. Or I may have steak or fish etc. Veggies may be one or two of the following: mashed cauliflower with some parsnips thrown in, but mostly cauliflower w/ butter, salt and epper, fried eggplant, fried greens like turnip or kale, salad, cooked carrots and broccoli, fried squash, fried green tomatoes, fried cabbage etc. And of course everything fried is just naked, no coating and I fry in palm or coconut oil.

Oh, also at one meal or another I take 3 salmon oil pills (Dr Mercola's brand). Be sure you are getting your Omega 3's.

The meat I eat is almost all grass fed right now as we had a bull butchered, my eggs are also usually from our chickens although this time of year they aren't laying much and we have been buying some which are supposed to be free range.

If I get hungry in the evenings, I drink some green tea and ignore it. You will want to be careful of your blood sugar at first, but eating all this fat and meat should keep it stable for you.

@teach2183: its a small bowl (3" diameter, 1.5" deep)... so not tons of nuts/raisins. Compared to old habits of biscuits, etc, its a major difference. I'm just really suprised that such a major diet difference (no wheat, little dairy - the odd yogurt), has had next to no difference.

@AshleyL: thanks. Lots of advice. Surprised that you think the one potato & 1/4 bowl (see above for dimensions) of raisins is enough. Maybe I am eating enough carbs to be in the "easy weight maintenance" level - its hard to say. Unfortunately I dont leave work until 6pm, and then commute home. So tea is 7-7.30pm.

For some, these lifestyle fixes are easy - the basic logistics of my work/life/finance dont seem to allow for many of them. Hey ho... I'll plod on. PB seems good, and makes sense, so I wont give up... maybe a bit more tinkering needed.